Nah, its not that uncommon in eastern europe (and not exactly unknown in the rest). You do wonder if Europe has a similar future to the US as it federalizes - ending up with two competing blocs, with the east (and to a less extent the south) being right wing/conservative conflicting with a more liberal/left wing west/northern bloc.

the good side to this i guess is that we'll have even more cheap hot hungarian prostitutes here in Switzerland than we do already. Currently, its cheaper to pick up a 19yr old hungarian bulgarian or romanian street walker for an hour than it is to go out to dinner.

If someone sets their sights on a new polio vaccine or curing cancer or Wining the FA Cup or becoming a billionare , they have one in billion chance of doing it.

Having kids ? one in two.

Having nice kids? Hey, still only one in six.

Having great kids? one in 20!

And the skills to be a good parent are easily taught and maintained!

Right now as a culture we scowl at the idea of parenting as a life goal. Sometimes women who are devoted to their families get labelled as "wasting" their time, although no child would ever say that about their mother. Men who do so are an aberration, and not the norm.

So yes, having kids is a good idea. If you need to fold your patriotism into it to make it sexy, that's okay.

I don't know what is so shocking to any American about this. In substance, this is exactly what the political establishment in the USA tells you on an ongoing basis, and has done so for decades. Tax policy encourages procreation and the government keeps larding up the population with its open borders policy, and it's all because a growing population is good for the expand-or-expire agro-industrial economy, and therefore "good for the fatherland." If these Magyar guys are Nazis for saying it, so are the Republicans and Democrats in Washington, DC, because they're saying the same thing and always have. In fact, this is a given in the USA, it's assumed. It's rarely even mentioned because the policy is traditional here.

the good side to this i guess is that we'll have even more cheap hot hungarian prostitutes here in Switzerland than we do already. Currently, its cheaper to pick up a 19yr old hungarian bulgarian or romanian street walker for an hour than it is to go out to dinner.

If someone sets their sights on a new polio vaccine or curing cancer or Wining the FA Cup or becoming a billionare , they have one in billion chance of doing it.

Having kids ? one in two.

Having nice kids? Hey, still only one in six.

Having great kids? one in 20!

And the skills to be a good parent are easily taught and maintained!

Right now as a culture we scowl at the idea of parenting as a life goal. Sometimes women who are devoted to their families get labelled as "wasting" their time, although no child would ever say that about their mother. Men who do so are an aberration, and not the norm.

So yes, having kids is a good idea. If you need to fold your patriotism into it to make it sexy, that's okay.

Jane you ignorant slut.

Raising kids isnt probability. Quality of quantity. if you have 1 kid, you can probably afford to raise it and send it to a good school and educate it. 2 same is probably true as well. you have more than that and your chances of the average middle class family being able to send them to good schools raise êm right and give the attention and love they need to become a billionaire or win a cup or whatever the hell arbitrary benchmark you want to use for success is, shrink dramatically.

unless you have a large agrarian society, or huge potential for growth (like the westward expansion of the 19th century in the US) you end up with increased poverty, a strain on finite social service resources, an increase in poverty, a decline in education, and diaspora. Why do you think so many mexicans leave mexico, or italians and irish left their home countries a century ago?

having piles of kids without a place for them to grow into is not a good idea for a govt to persue. And hungary, with all its problems and corruption is CERTAINLY not a growth country where a surplus of kids would be beneficial to the state. At all.

Whats shocking about this the most is they live right next door to romania who did exactly this in the 80s under Ceaucescu and it was a DISASTER with orphanages overflowing and a whole generation of romanian kids growing up under absolutely appalling conditions.

why any minister would say this is beyond me. then again, ours say things like the whole "illigitimate rape" comments and twats like Palin actually have careers in the US so who are we to judge.

That was rude from you but let me explain. Hungary, as a member of NATO, is fighting the same countries that your country does. This little shiat hole country is just trying to keep up with big shiat hole countries.

That was rude from you but let me explain. Hungary, as a member of NATO, is fighting the same countries that your country does. This little shiat hole country is just trying to keep up with big shiat hole countries.

Your earlier comment that the law against domestic violence passed without a single vote against tells me that certain big shiate hole countries still have a lot to learn from certain little shiate hole countries. Except for that whole clinking of glasses thing. That's just weird.

Fidesz may be within the Hungarian mainstream, but last I heard the rest of the EU was trying to censure them for basically trying to restructure their constitution to keep them in power forever -- kind of a right-wing version of pulling a Chavez. Then again, how many votes did Marine Le Pen get in France?

canyoneer:I don't know what is so shocking to any American about this. In substance, this is exactly what the political establishment in the USA tells you on an ongoing basis, and has done so for decades. Tax policy encourages procreation and the government keeps larding up the population with its open borders policy, and it's all because a growing population is good for the expand-or-expire agro-industrial economy, and therefore "good for the fatherland." If these Magyar guys are Nazis for saying it, so are the Republicans and Democrats in Washington, DC, because they're saying the same thing and always have. In fact, this is a given in the USA, it's assumed. It's rarely even mentioned because the policy is traditional here.

doubled99:Bringing a new life into the world and raising it-surely it is the most important job anyone could have.How can you argue with this?

There are some things which are more important but not many. I'd argue that someone who cures cancer or invents a effective, renewable clean energy source, or leads a poor country to prosperity would be more important due to the far reaching consequences of their actions and the number of people affected. However those are outliers. As far as your average person, I'd tend to agree with you.

BLeap:doubled99: Bringing a new life into the world and raising it-surely it is the most important job anyone could have.How can you argue with this?

There are some things which are more important but not many. I'd argue that someone who cures cancer or invents a effective, renewable clean energy source, or leads a poor country to prosperity would be more important due to the far reaching consequences of their actions and the number of people affected. However those are outliers. As far as your average person, I'd tend to agree with you.

If you make your laws (or build strong expectations in society) in a way that you punish women who choose carrier over breeding, then you loose half the personnel to work on cancer and clean energy, no? My bigger concern is that you put limitation on personal freedom - who are you to tell me when and how many children should I have? The biggest WTF factor is the unashamed sexism that shines through this BS. Women stay at home with kids while men go and do whatever they want.

And there are other things. I am 34 and don't have kids yet for a good reason. I'm from a poor family and I know what it takes for children to grow up in poverty. I'm OK now and ready to raise kids but it took me time to build up a reasonable wealth. For this some would call me antisocial but I think it's just responsible parenting.

Absolutely. When I read the news on Romney and his pals it's like reading the current news on Hungarian government. These rhetorics worked here to win the elections and could work over there too. I don't want to discuss US politics but the sad thing for you is that Hungary's economy is on a steep downhill since the last elections and its international reputation is probably the lowest since ever. And it's not only the economy, there are way more FARK threads like this about this country than would be with a different government.